Internet Habits and the Presidency

When it comes to the Internet, Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently said that he’s “an illiterate who has to rely on his wife for any assistance he can get.” In an era where the Internet is playing an ever greater role, does such an admission matter, and does it say anything important about the age gap between McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama?

This is not the first time a politician has come under fire for sweeping claims about the Internet. Recall, for instance, Al Gore’s comment that he “took the initiative in creating the Internet.” Everyone knows that DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) drove the creation of the Net, not the former vice president, but his comment made for many jokes on late-night shows.

McCain, of course, made quite the opposite assertion, but is he really the “illiterate” he mentioned or is something else going on? His campaign aides say he’s fully capable of browsing the Web and that he has a Mac and uses it several times a week. Senator McCain will get “hip points” for using a Mac; nevertheless, he clearly doesn’t think being Internet savvy is an important branding strategy. This may bother some, but many politically active technology entrepreneurs don’t seem to be upset.

Sonia Arrison / Sonia Arrison is an author and policy analyst who has studied
the impact of new technologies on society for more than a decade. A Senior Fellow at the California-based Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and a columnist for TechNewsWorld, she is author of two previous books (Western Visions and Digital Dialog) as well as numerous PRI studies on technology issues. A frequent media contributor and guest, her work has appeared in many publications including CBS MarketWatch, CNN, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. She was also the host of a radio show called "digital dialogue" on the Voice America network and has been a repeat guest on National Public Radio and CNN's Headline News.

My theory is that the upcoming election is more about generational issues than anything: it’s the political power of the Baby Boomers against Generation X and the Millennials. If the time for a changing of the guard is not this election, it definitely will be in 2012.

The interesting thing to me is that both candidates disguise the generational issue with words like “change” or “Internet literacy”.

http://www.guerilla-ciso.com/ rybolov

Hi Sonia

My theory is that the upcoming election is more about generational issues than anything: it’s the political power of the Baby Boomers against Generation X and the Millennials. If the time for a changing of the guard is not this election, it definitely will be in 2012.

The interesting thing to me is that both candidates disguise the generational issue with words like “change” or “Internet literacy”.